by Regina Frame
"Oh, so much better than homework," she grinned.
I was in the kitchen making a couple of sandwiches and I could see Peyton in the den typing furiously on her laptop. My phone rang and vibrated across the kitchen counter where I tossed it when we came in earlier. I stared down at the screen and debated on whether to even answer it. Marcus displayed across the screen. I already knew what he wanted and I'd much rather stay here and keep Peyton all to myself. My finger hovered over the accept button, when I noticed Peyton eying me from across the room. Probably wondering why I haven't answered it yet.
"’Sup, dick head?" I said into the phone and was met with so much noise in the background that I could barely make out what he was saying to me. "You're gonna have to speak up, man, I can't hear a word you're saying." After a few minutes, I finally was able to make out what he was trying to say. He wanted Peyton and me to meet him at the "Bad Habit." A new bar opened up on the East side about six months ago. I would have told him no, but he told me that Peyton's friend, Jules, was there with him, so that pretty much sealed the deal. "See you in thirty," I said into the phone and tossed it back onto the counter. By this time, Peyton had closed her laptop and was making her way into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around me, pressed her cheek against my chest, and took a deep breath.
"Who was that?" She nuzzled against my chest and her sweet floral scent assaulted my nose. Damn-it! I really wanted to stay in tonight.
"That was Marcus. He and Jules want us to meet them at the Bad Habit. It sounded like all the guys are already there, but we don't have to go. We can stay here," I told her, crossing my fingers she'd want to stay home. Listen to me; I'm considering my place our home? She stiffened for a brief moment before relaxing in my arms and I wondered if she caught that.
"Nonsense. Let me just go change. I'm going to have to get used to being around this crowd if I'm going to be working with you guys." She responded as she headed up the stairs toward the bedroom to find her bag.
"Wait for me, we can shower together." I offered as I followed her up the stairs. She stopped me in my tracks when she placed her small hand on my chest and I almost crashed into her.
"Oh no you don't! If we shower together, we'll never make it to the club." The corner of her mouth tipped up and I could tell she was trying not to smile.
"Would that be such a bad thing? Us staying here alone? I promise I could entertain you far more than anything going on at that club." I cocked my head and winked at her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and cupped her firm ass with the palm of my hands and I ground my cock against her. "See what you do to me?" I groaned. “Now what was I supposed to do with this?" I said, grinding against her again.
"While I do find you very entertaining in more ways than one Mr. Cross, I suggest you take a cold shower and be ready in fifteen minutes." She said and took a step back and out of my embrace. I immediately felt the loss of her warm body against mine. "I'm going to shower in the guest room." She swung around, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder and sashayed her sweet ass toward the guest room. Damn! I hate cold showers.
Peyton
Levi
tossed his keys to the valet before he opened my door and took my hand to help me out of the car. From the moment my foot touched the cement in front of the club, light bulbs of the paparazzi cameras flashed and onlookers held their cell phones in the air to capture the moment with him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his warm side as a couple of burly security guards helped to push us through the crowd.
People on the other side of the ropes screamed about how much they loved him and the band, a few even yelled obscenities about what they would like to do to him. The paparazzi on the other hand were only worried about who the woman was on his arm. They sought any opportunity for a story, something new on one of the guys. I shielded my face with my other hand as much as possible as we were ushered behind the big frosted glass doors. Hard thumping music assaulted my ears and thumped in my chest as we entered the crowded club.
"I don't know how you do it." I said, unsure if he heard me over the loud music and the roar of people talking in the club.
"Do what?" He leaned in and his musky cologne floated through my nose and warmed me through my bones. I don't know what kind of cologne he wears, but it smells heavenly.
"That." I gestured with my hand toward the crowd of people still trying to gain entrance to the club.
"I guess I'm just used to it and the more you're seen publicly with us, it will be the same for you. Right now, all they know is that you're new to the group and they don't even know your name. We should really look at getting that taken care of. Maybe you could come up with something for our social media pages that will satisfy them, of course, the more your seen kissing me, the more questions they're going to ask." He smirked and kissed me on the lips and I could taste the sweet smell of peppermint from the gum he was chewing. We climbed the black shiny stairs to the second floor and were escorted to the VIP section. I breathed a sigh of relief to find Jules so quickly. The club was packed elbow to elbow with people down stairs and the thought crossed my mind that I might not be able to find her in the crowd.
"Where the fuck have you guys been?" She asked and then laughed. "It's crazy nuts down there!" She said, eyes as big as saucers. "I thought the crowd was going to rape Marcus before we ever got into the building. I swear I wanted to punch one bitch in the nose! I would have, too but, I didn't want to get blood on my new outfit." She stood and did a little turn in her very tight, very short, little, black dress. She would look good in a potato sack. She flipped her auburn hair over her shoulder and grabbed my hand. "Go to the ladies room with me. Yeah?" I turned to tell Levi where I was going, but he was in deep conversation with Chance and Honor." He wouldn't miss me if I was only gone a few minutes.
"Okay. Lead the way." I said, as I let her lead me down a hall and into the ladies room. As soon as the wooden door closed, Jules locked it and turned to face me. Sometimes, she could be so over dramatic. I laughed.
"What are you doing? People have to get in here," I said, reaching around her to unlock the door but she swatted my hand away.
"That hurt! Dammit!" I rubbed my fingers. "What'd you do that for?"
"Teake-is-here!" She said it so fast that I couldn't understand her.
"Just how much have you had to drink?" I dug my fists into my hips and glared at my nutty friend. She placed her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. Her green eyes looked at me with concern.
"I said, Teake is here, Peyton, and that's not all. He told Marcus that his band has been asked to play at that fundraising benefit that you're organizing. Please tell me you didn't ask him to play!" Her small hand cupped my arm and squeezed gently. If there was one thing that Jules knew, it was how I grieved over our split. I jerked my arm away and looked into her glassy, green ones.
"I can't believe you even asked me that! Recruiting the bands is not part of my job. It's the label that's been working on that. I'm in charge of the venue and placement of the stages among other things.” Suddenly, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be anywhere than the Bad Habit tonight. "I need a drink, preferably a stiff one." I unlocked the door and she followed me out.
I emerged from the hall and could see Levi from behind, talking with someone. I could tell from his stance that the chat he was having was not a friendly one, as I got closer, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach and I prayed the floor would open up and swallow me. Levi was talking to Teake and Marcus was trying to separate the two.
When Teake's gaze caught mine, I knew instantly that he was taking something. His dark, brown hair had grown down past his shoulders and looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. His brown eyes were blood-shot and glassy, with pupils so large that you could barely see the brown. He was living the lifestyle, all right. I knew he was using before we split up, but it was obvious now that things had gotten way out of hand. He looked past Levi and smiled a wicked smile. The smile
he always gave me when he was trying to get out of the lie I'd just caught him in.
"Peyton, baby, I've missed you." He slurred with a thick tongue. Levi whirled around and looked at me with confusion in his ocean blue eyes.
"You know this junkie?" I swallowed hard and gave a quick nod. I was going to lose my job. I just knew it.
"Something like that, I thought I knew him," I said and took a step back, as Teake stumbled and reached out for me. Levi's fist landed on his right jaw and knocked Teake to the floor. Flickers of light flashed around us as people took out their phones and captured the whole, horrible scene.
"We're leaving now!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward one of the burly guys in the black staff t-shirts. Levi whispered something in his ear and he immediately sprang into action. The big guy spoke into his headset, a line of security guards appeared, and the people of the floor parted like the sea to make way for us. By the time we reached the sidewalk, our SUV was waiting and Levi ushered me inside as the photographers snapped pictures of us until the doors closed and they could no longer see through the dark, tinted glass.
Levi looked up at me through his thick lashes for a moment too long, making me squirm in my seat and a painful knot twisted in my stomach. "Please tell me you're not involved with him," he demanded. I stared down where I twisted my fingers in my lap and tried to run through my mind what to tell him. Would I be guilty by association? Would I be fired because I used to be involved with Teake? "Well! I'm waiting for your answer." His voice came out harsh and demanding, causing me to jerk in surprise.
"Do you remember when I told you that I don't date rock stars?" He gave a quick nod and waited for me to continue. I decided to just tell him everything and if I lost him or were fired in the process, I'd die of shame and a broken heart. "Teake and I began dating when we started college. It wasn't long before he started his band and dropped out of school. I didn't live in the best of the neighborhoods, and when I say that, I mean that I lived in an old, rusted out trailer in a trailer park off of North forty. He asked me to move into the two-bedroom house, that he and four other guys from the band shared. The only thing I could think of then, was the fact that I wanted out of that trailer and away from my mother, so I left with him one night."
"You just up and left your mom and moved in with his band?" Levi asked. I knew that he was close to his mom so I was sure it wasn’t easy for him to comprehend how I could just pack a bag and walk away.
"My mom smoked crack and she had guys in and out of our place nightly, sometimes several times a day. I couldn't stand the way those dirty, old men looked at me. When I would tell my mom that one of them tried to touch me or got a little too close, she'd always find a way to blame me. It was either I wore too much makeup, or the clothes I wore were too revealing.
“She even accused me once, of trying to sell myself to one of them for my own money. That was the last straw, because what she saw and what she thought she saw, were two, completely, different things. I had gone into the kitchen to get myself a glass of tap water. Then, I was going right back to my bedroom and lock the door, just like I did every night.
“Only, this particular night, Slimy Sid, followed me into the kitchen and put his nasty hands on me. He said he'd give me twenty bucks to suck his disease, infested dick. The next thing I knew, my mom had me by the hair, pulling me away from Sid. She said, if I was gonna be a whore, I wasn't living under her roof." I choked back a sob.
"That's when I called Teake and told him about what had happened. He told me to pack a bag and I was gone in thirty minutes. I really thought I loved him, Teake, you know. That all changed one day, when I decided to stop by and check on my mom. It'd been months since I'd spoken to her. I remember pulling open that rusty screen door and stepping into the sweltering heat of that rusty tin box. There sat Teake, on the ratty old couch with his pants around his knees, smoking crack, while my mom sucked him off."
By now, the tears were streaming down my cheeks at the memories I’d tried to keep buried deep, inside. "That's when . . ." Levi cupped my cheek with the warm palm of his hand.
"Shush. I'm so sorry, baby. I'm sorry for everything that you've been through. I've only known Teake for a short period, but it's been long enough to know, that he's bad news. We've suspected for a while now that Chance has some type of drug problem, but when I saw him talking to Teake, that pretty much confirmed my suspicions. I couldn't get either one of them to admit to it, but, I'm almost certain, that Chance is buying from Teake.
"Oh, Levi, we've got to do something before it's too late. Marcus told Jules that Teake's band is supposed to play the benefit. Is there anything we can do to get them taken off the roster?"
"I plan on bringing it up at the studio tomorrow. It'll have to be a group decision. I'm pretty sure that once Jinx hears about Teake selling to Chance, he'll talk to the label, and have his band kicked out." His cell rang and he reached into his back pocket and pulled it out. A big smile spread across his handsome face as he stared at the name on the screen. "It's my mom."
Levi
"How's
my favorite Mom?" I said with a chuckle, and it felt good to hear her sweet laughter on the other end of the phone, but something about it sounded a little strained.
"Levi, I'm your only mother, so I better be your favorite." She laughed again.
"I was planning on calling you tomorrow. We're back in town for a few months working on our album. I was hoping to take my favorite girls to lunch."
"Did you say girls?" She questioned, and I could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"You heard right. I've got someone special I'd like for you to meet," I said, tipping my head and kissing Peyton on the forehead. She smiled up at me, causing my heart to skip a beat.
"Oh! I'm so happy, Levi. What's her name? What does she look like? What does she do for . . .?" I interrupted her, cutting her twenty questions short.
"Mom, Mom. Her name is Peyton, and she's beautiful. That's all I'm going to tell you right now. How about lunch on Saturday?"
"Honey, I would love that, but I insist on cooking for the two of you. I'll make your favorite!" She insisted. Who was I to turn down a home cooked meal made by my mom? My favorite meal at that—Chicken Casserole, with little, green peas.
"That's a plan, then. We'll see you around noon on Saturday. Love you, Mom."
"Love you too, dear." I tossed my phone on the counter and gazed down into Peyton's silver, gray eyes.
"I'm meeting your mom?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip. "What if she doesn't like me?" Her cute little brows dipped. Surely, she couldn't be serious. Who would not love Peyton? She was one of the sweetest, kindest people that I knew. She was perfect in every way.
"Sweetheart, she's going to love you as much as I do." There I said it. At first, I thought she hadn't heard me, but she gasped and took a step back. Confusion and surprise was written on her beautiful face. "You heard me, Peyton, I love you. I knew from the moment I met you in the hallway of that venue. Something about you spoke to my heart without words and I knew you were my soul mate."
She looked up at me through her thick lashes and tears poured from her dove gray eyes. I thought, for a moment, that I'd said the wrong thing. I'd admitted it too soon and now she was going to leave, but then she opened her mouth and spoke the words that I was hoping to hear.
"I love you too, Levi. I've tried to fight it. I told myself that musicians were all the same, especially rock stars, but you've proven me wrong. You have the biggest heart of anyone, I've ever known. I not only hear it in the lyrics of your songs, but it shows in your everyday life, and they way you care for people. Oh, but what do you think is going to happen at the studio tomorrow?"
"I could tell you what's about to happen now, but I'd much rather show you." I pulled her close and rubbed my stiff cock against her, which caused her to giggle.
"Levi, I'm being serious here!" She tried to take a step back but I wouldn't let her.
"Baby, I'm ser
ious as a heart attack right now. Let's not let anything that happened earlier, ruin our night." I kissed the place just beneath her ear, causing her to moan just like she always did. She looked up at me with eyes full of lust and pink, swollen lips from being kissed. The most fucking beautiful sight I had ever seen. "Now, I'm gonna take you up stairs and fuck you on every surface in my bedroom. Then," I paused long enough to assault her mouth again, leaving her breathless.
"We're going into the bathroom, where I'm gonna fuck you again. You'll be begging me for mercy before I'm done with you." By now, she was panting. She fisted the front of my t-shirt and pulled me up the stairs so fast, I was afraid we'd take a tumble. When we reached the top of the stairs, I bent at the waist and threw her over my shoulder, causing her to giggle in delight. I walked over to the bed and slowly lowered her to her feet. She leisurely began to release the buttons on her shirt, when I grew impatient and ripped open the front, causing buttons to fly across the room.
She gasped and said, "I loved that shirt!"
"I'll buy you twenty of them, and as pretty as that little, black bra is, lose it!" I said, reaching for the clasp behind her back, but she batted my hands away and popped the clasp in-between her breasts, letting it fall open in the front, revealing her perky breasts and rosy nipples.
I reached behind me, jerked my t-shirt over my head, and threw it onto the floor. Then we both frantically removed our jeans, leaving a mountain of clothing as we climbed onto my king-sized bed. My heart began to thud in my chest. I crawled over her and took her mouth in a sensual kiss. I licked her lips and she opened, letting me in. My tongue tangled with her warm one, in a mating dance, all of our own. She moaned into my mouth and I felt it all the way to my balls. "Do you have any idea what that does to me?"
"What?" She asked breathlessly, pulling my mouth back to hers.
"When you moan into my mouth, it's like a live wire all the way to my balls. I swear, I could shoot my load just from you doing that," I said, nipping and kissing my way down to her hard nipple. I sucked her pebbled nipple into my mouth, grazing it with my teeth, and then flicking it with my tongue, while rolling her other nipple between my finger and thumb.